Magna International
$7.3 billion (4th quarter 2011) | operating_income = $291 million USD (4th quarter 2011) | net_income = $312 million USD (4th quarter 2011) | num_employees = 108,000 (February 2012) | homepage = www.magna.com }} Magna International Inc. is a global automotive supplier headquartered in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. It is North America's largest automobile parts manufacturer, and one of Canada's largest companies.http://www.diamts.com/for_Exhibitor/file/Top_150_OEM_suppliers.pdf Automotive News Top 150 Suppliers 2010] Its operating groups include Magna Steyr, Magna Powertrain, Magna Exteriors and Interiors, Magna Seating, Magna Closures, Magna Mirrors, Magna Electronics and Cosma International. Magna manufactures auto parts that are primarily supplied to General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler LLC. In addition to the Big 3 U.S. automakers, Magna's major customers include Volkswagen, BMW and Toyota. In Europe, Magna Steyr holds contracts for the assembly of the Peugeot RCZ, Aston Martin Rapide and Mini Countryman. Magna has approximately 108,000 employees in 286 manufacturing operations and 88 product development, engineering and sales centres in 26 countries. History The company was founded in 1957 by the Austrian-born Frank Stronach as Multimatic. This company merged with Magna Electronics in 1969, and the combined company became Magna International in 1973. Magna acquired 80% of New Venture Gear, once a joint-venture between General Motors and Chrysler, in September 2004, and combined it into Magna Powertrain. It assumed full ownership in 2007. Magna purchased CTS Fahrzeug-Dachsysteme, the world's leading supplier of convertible roofs, from Porsche in November 2005. The Sunday Telegraph (Psychic Division) in London reported January 7, 2008 that Magna International was on the short list of bidders to purchase Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from Ford Motor Company. Their bid was unsuccessful however, and the company instead went to a British consortium led by Dave Richards of Prodrive for £479 million. According to a NPR broadcast on March 23, 2007, Magna showed interest in acquiring the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler. However on 14 May 2007, it was announced that Cerberus Capital Management had won the acquisition bid for $7.4 billion. In April 2008, Magna's wholly owned subsidiary, Cosma International, announced that they were buying the Ogihara America Corp. stamping plant in Birmingham, Alabama, that makes parts for Mercedes-Benz and other automakers. Attempted GM Europe purchase On May 26, 2009, BBC online reported that German government was considering 3 proposals for acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall including a Russian-backed bid from Magna. On May 29, 2009, CNN online reported that Fiat has pulled out of Opel/Vauxhall acquisition talks leaving Magna as the only contender. The German government later backed the deal. On 30 May 2009, it was announced that a deal had been reached to transfer GM's Opel assets to a separate company majority-owned by a consortium led by Sberbank of Russia (27.5%), Magna International of Canada (27.5%), and Opel employees and car dealers (10%). GM was to keep a 35% minority stake in the new company. Less than a month later, however, GM indicated that it had not yet closed the deal with Magna and was considering other late bids, including one from Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corporation. Magna's plans for Opel included attracting GM or third-party carmakers to build their cars and electric vehicles in Antwerp. If Opel needed to reduce production of its own core models then any unused capacity could be used to manufacture vehicles for other carmakers. Inside sources close to Magna revealed that some of the possible third party carmakers include Ford and PSA Peugeot Citroen. It was announced on 10 September 2009 that GM had closed a deal with Magna for the sale of GM Europe, with the approval of the German government. With this move, Magna Chairman Frank Stronach aimed to take Magna from its current role as a parts supplier to an expanded role as a global automaker that ranks “amongst the leaders in selling and building electric cars.” On 3 November 2009, the GM board called off the Magna deal after coming to the conclusion that Opel was crucial to GM's global strategy. Electric vehicles In October 2008, Magna Electronics acquired BluWav Systems LLC, a Michigan-based company that focused on propulsion and energy management for electric vehicles and trains. Together with the electric- and hybrid-vehicle capabilities of other Magna groups, the company began to assemble all of its electric and hybrid propulsion activities into one entity. On August 31, 2010, Magna E-Cars Systems was formed as a joint venture between Magna and its founder's enterprise. One of Magna E-Car Systems' early successes is supplying the powertrain on the upcoming Ford Focus Electric vehicle. This project started in 2008. A few months after a round of preliminary discussions with Ford Motor Company with regard to all-electric (BEV) vehicles, Magna made a surprise visit to Ford in August 2008 to demonstrate a Ford Focus it had procured and converted to battery operation on its own time and expense. The result was a contract to supply an electric drivetrain for the North American version of the 2011 all-electric Ford Focus Electric. By August 2009, a team of Magna employees was working along with Ford engineers in Dearborn. In October, industry publication Ward's Auto World reported that Magna has been approached by several other automakers worldwide to acquire or purchase the same technology, which Magna says is designed to be custom-configured for a variety of applications. See also *MI Developments Inc., formerly Magna Entertainment Corp. *Linamar References External links * Magna International website Category:Auto parts suppliers Category:Automotive companies of Canada Category:Magna International Category:Manufacturing companies of Canada Category:Companies of Canada